Kidney care specialist DaVita (NYSE: DVA) made good on its statement that it was exploring strategic alternatives for its DaVita Medical Group (DMG). It found a buyer in UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) Optum, which agreed to pay $4.9 billion for DMG, the highest publicly announced price it has paid for a physician group.

The fourth quarter, and the month of December in particular, are usually busy times for mergers and acquisitions, and often when big deals are announced. With one month to go in Q4:17, the pace may be picking up. Deal volume through December 1 stood at 231 transactions (-39% to last year’s 379), and $19.6 billion […]